Fiona Willis had a lot happening in her life right now, and she didn't really need an angry client on the phone. Fiona was newly married and newly accredited as a Chartered Accountant in the firm Caldwell, Burns and Burns Public Accountants. On top of that, last month her boss, Alex Caldwell, had placed her in charge a large account: Marshall Mining Equipment and Services (MME&S). She was happy to take over this important account, even though the company's founder, Hugo Marshall, was well known as an abrupt, rude and even bullying personality. On the other hand, MME&S was a good and timely payer of its accounts with Fiona's firm and was therefore an important revenue source. However, while Hugo Marshall rarely challenged his accounts from the firm, he always demanded results that were fair to him. There were always whispers in the firm that corners had been cut in the past to appease Hugo Marshall. Nothing was proven, so the rumours remained only rumours. Or at least they would until this phone call started.

So now Fiona found herself on the phone to an angry Hugo Marshall, and he was not happy with the results of a recent determination by the Australian Tax Office (ATO). According to Marshall, Fiona's flawed tax accounting (especially for fringe benefit tax) had resulted in an onerous tax liability imposed by the ATO. Why had this happened only when Fiona had taken over the account, Marshall demanded to know. He proceeded to tell her that her "overly conservative" approach was not suited to an entrepreneurial company and perhaps Marshall should look for a better accountant? Why did Willis report to the ATO that Marshall employees routinely took Marshall fleet vehicles home and garaged them on their private premises? Her predecessors had always been happy to certify that this wasn't the case! And vehicle log books are not always reliable, are they?

So now Marshall thundered that the only thing that had changed for his business was that Fiona Willis was now doing his accounting and as a result his tax liability had risen sharply. He would look around for a better accounting firm, he informed her, since Caldwell, Burns & Burns were no longer looking after his best interests. In the meantime, he suggested, Fiona had better review her methods and the data she reported to the ATO, otherwise she should expect to have her income halved, and how would she like that? Then she would know how he, Hugo Marshall felt!

After the phone call, Fiona was devastated. No wonder, she realised, no-one else would work on this account. But she was not just upset, she was alarmed. She was confident of her professional judgement, but was there something else she was missing? How could her judgement about Marshall's tax liability be so different to everyone else's? She had no easy answer to that, but she had suspicions that were not helpful to her sense of trust of her colleagues.

However, Fiona had a more pressing problem than self-doubt or being harangued by an angry client. Fiona had a clear impression that she had been threatened by Marshall, and in a number of ways. First was a threat to have her sacked or replaced as the accountant in charge of the Marshall account. However, while she was certain that Marshall would complain to the partners of her firm, Fiona was confident that Caldwell would back heralbeit with a dressing down and maybe some further training. However, there was another threat, more disturbing to Fiona.

After Fiona had agreed to take over the Marshall account for Caldwell, Burns and Burns, she discovered that Marshall had been acquiring many local businesses and one of them was the metal fabrication company that her husband worked for. Does this mean that there is a conflict of interest for me, Fiona had wondered at the time. She thought that if she reported this to Alex Caldwell, she would be removed from the account and this account was her big break. So she said nothing. Besides, she thought, she had kept her maiden name and did not take her husband's name. There was no reason for Marshall or anyone else to make the connection or its significance. What could go wrong? Well, now she knew.